Against the Odds
by boredwriter27
Summary: After being told to face reality by All Might, Izuku decides to stop standing still wishing for a miracle, and instead work hard and make it a reality himself. AU where the Sludge Villain incident did not happen.
1. Chapter 1

**Well, after reading through many stories here, I finally felt like writing my own. **

**For those of you wondering about pairings, the story will have them, but I don't want to outright say who's going to get together, since I feel that kind of defeats the purpose or writing a story. **

**Chapter 1**

The sun was setting as a dejected green haired boy walked alone in the empty streets leading to his home. Today had been probably the worst day of his life.

He had known for years that he was one of the very few people to have been born with no Quirk. He had known for years that he could not become a hero. Yet, to hear those words directly from the lips of the idol that had given him that dream…

Izuku Midoriya wiped away a couple of tears.

All Might. The number one hero, had told him to face reality, the reality that he could not become a hero.

Ever since he was a kid, he had wanted to become one, or at the very east be told he _could _become one; but had he ever done anything to make that a reality? What did he think would happen if he just wished for it to happen? That he would miraculously develop a Quirk out of think air?

No. Life didn't work like that. It was pathetic of him to think that way.

All Might had told him to face reality, and he would do just that.

Instead of just wishing for it, he would make it happen no matter what. He would work as hard as he could to prove the entire world wrong and become a hero!

Izuku looked up at the sky with a renewed sense of meaning. Starting today, he would stop wishing, and start doing.

* * *

**Six Months Later**

With weighted wrist bands and ankle weights, Izuku jogged through a park at a steady pace. It was getting much easier to finish his workouts, looks like he needed to add more weight again.

He wasn't the same scrawny boy from before, he had built up some muscle in the past months. But he knew that in order to become a hero, he didn't need to just become stronger, which is why on top of working out, he had started to study different fighting styles in his computer. Nothing beat hands on experience, he knew that, but it was the best he could do since he didn't want to bother his mom with paying for someone to teach him.

But he was making steady progress. While the jog at the end of his workout had been hellish before, he was currently making great time and not having a lot of trouble keeping up. Before, by the time he was done running it would get dark, but now the sun had just started to set.

"You really run through here every day."

Izuku was broken out of his thoughts, and looked to his side to see a girl sitting on a bench, looking at him.

"Do you need something? He asked, puzzled as to why a girl dressed a bit strangely (baggy brown overall pants, white t-shit, and strange googles) was talking to him.

"My name is Mei Hatsume," she introduced herself with a grin.

"I'm Izuku Midoriya."

"Midoriya! You're the perfect candidate for the chance of a lifetime."

Was she trying to sell him something?

"I'm going to give you the chance to test out my super cute babies!"

"Um… I don't really get wha- Eh?!" Midoriya squeaked when Mei leaned in close towards his face.

"Don't worry about it! You're going to be a lot of help," she assured, giving him a pat in the back. "I'm aiming to invent the best support items for heroes! Clearly, you're not a hero, but I'm developing something that I can't test myself since I'm not the right build… Speaking of which."

"Eh!" Izuku yelped again when she grabbed one of his arms and started to squeeze his bicep.

"Wow, you're much firmer than you look. You're just perfect!" She let him go and walked to the bench where she had been sitting.

He noticed that she had a large suitcase that she opened to reveal a bunch of weird gadgets and all sorts of tools.

"Well then," she began with an excited smile, "Let me introduce you to my babies!"

* * *

**One Month Later**

It was already dark by the time Izuku was heading home after visiting Mei to test out new gadgets at an old warehouse.

'_For safety.' _She had said with her usual big smile.

He had to admit that he had been excited about helping her out at first. It's not every day that you get an offer to test out potential support items for heroes, and maybe she had something that could help him on his dream to become a hero.

But this past month had been anything but encouraging. A lot of her inventions required strength he didn't have, and the ones he could test out ended up failing or hurting him most of the time.

That's why today he was heading home with a giant white gauntlet, because the thing had gotten stuck and she told him to keep it while she found a way to get it off. It had been a part of a power suit that was sturdy and could fire its fists long distances and retract them back into place. It was one full set, not meant to fall apart after a few minutes of use, which is why the thing was stuck.

Not for the first time, Izuku wondered if all this training was for nothing. He was stronger, sure, but he could never match someone with a Quirk. Even if he trained his body for years, the gap was just too big to fill.

"Help!"

Izuku heard a woman's voice scream, just before the smell of smoke hit his nostrils.

A fire?

He jogged towards the source, turning a corner at the end of the street, to see a two story house on fire.

"Please!" The woman screamed as two people held her back, stopping her from running into the burning home. "My son's inside! Please! I have go get him!"

The pleading in her tone cause everyone to flinch, but they didn't let her through.

"Just wait. The heroes will be here soon!"

"No! Please! Someone..."

Izuku could only watch the scene through wide eyes, not knowing what to do.

"Help me!"

Before he even had time to think, he was already running into the home.

"Don't go in there!"

He ignored the voice and broke through the brittle front door with a kick. A wave of heat hit him almost instantly, causing him to grit his teeth and push through.

'_Darn it, almost the whole first floor is on fire… How am I supposed to find a kid here?'_

His eyes scanned the area, taking in as much as he could even through the smoke, until they finally caught something. A bedroom door with a colorful sign hanging from it, similar to the All Might one he used to have when younger.

He went for the stairs, but a piece of the roof broke off and fell on it, lighting them in a manner of seconds.

Izuku froze for a second, before looking at the gauntlet on his right hand, and aiming it at a wall on the second floor. He opened his palm, the mechanical hand mimicking his movement, and shot it, breaking through the wall, before he closed his hand into a fist. Having some grip, he then retracted the fist, pulling him towards the fist, instead of the other way around.

It somehow worked like a charm and he landed safely on the second floor.

"Anybody in here!" He shouted after stepping into the room.

"I'm here!" A panicked small voice came from underneath the covers of a bed.

A small boy, not even four years old, emerged from the covered with tears on his face.

"Don't worry, I got you," Izuku assured with a gentle smile.

He picked up the boy on his left arm and tried to backtrack out of the house, but the front door was covered in flames.

'_Door's gone… Stairs are gone… There has to be something… There!'_

A large window near the ceiling above the front door.

"Hang on okay," he instructed before he aimed the gauntlet and shot, breaking through the window and gripping the house across the narrow street.

* * *

Onlookers and the men holding the mother back, could only watch as flames began to engulf the entire house, their hearts breaking for the mother.

And that's when it happened.

The large window on the front wall of the house, suddenly broke, and then a figure emerged, sailing through the air before landing on the street with a small boy in his arms.

The other broke free of the grasp, as the men were too awestruck do to much else, and ran to the side of her son, taking him from the stranger and hugging him as tight as she could.

Izuku coughed but felt relieved to see the mother hugging her child and crying out in relief.

"Thank you," she sobbed while holding her son to her chest. "Thank you. Thank you so much!"

Those gathered at the streets began to cheer loudly once they processed what had happened.

"That was incredible!"

"So brave!"

"That's a hero for you!"

Izuku felt his eyes sting, and turned his back to the crowd, before using the gauntlet to climb onto a nearby roof and disappearing into the darkness as sirens began to wail nearby.

He continued to run for minutes using the gauntlet to jump from house to house, until he finally came down and fell to his knees at a lone street.

His lips quivered and a few tears fell from his eyes.

'_I...saved someone.'_

_Hero… _They called him a _hero_.

Izuku gripped his chest as years of rejecting surfaced all at once, hitting him with such an overwhelming surge of emotions that he could only sob.

* * *

**Two Months Later**

Something had recently changed for a small market district in Musutafu, Japan in the past month.

Suddenly, a vigilante started to appear at night, resolving all sorts of small crimes. Unlike before where they could only rely on the police or were lucky enough to have a hero somewhere nearby, this vigilante was almost always patrolling the streets, unseen.

Heroes were usually more preoccupied with villains or harsher crime, so they didn't waste too much time on crimes on a smaller scale unless they were physically there when they happened.

That's how Izuku came to the conclusion that helping out in such a small scale would not only help him get valuable experience, but also help out the community.

After being able to save a kid from a burning building, Izuku decided that he couldn't just stand aside and let bad things happen. He would sometimes accompany his mom grocery shopping and would often overhear how someone's shop was burglarized or occasionally how someone had been robbed.

Izuku didn't start out seeking to fight crime, but when he witnessed it happening one day when he was walking home after his workout, he decided to step in.

in any case, the sun was still out, and he was on his way to meet Mei to test out another of her gadgets.

After seeing what the gauntlet could do and getting it removed, thankfully, Izuku had asked her if she could make another one that worked in the same way, and explained what he had used it for. Mei had beamed the brightest smile he had seen yet, and told him what a great idea it was.

Now, instead of a giant gauntlet, she had invented a pair of much slimmer gauntlets with claws to dig in to surfaces much easier. Surprisingly, they worked perfectly without a single drawback, she had been so pleased that she even let him keep them.

He kept them on a backpack he always carried now. Also inside were a black long-sleeve shirt, black slacks, and a dark green bandanna that he used to cover the top half of his face. Other than holes he had cut out for the eyes shifting around all the time, it helped keep his identity hidden, which was a plus.

Approaching the old warehouse, he was not surprise to hear an explosion. He instead sighed and jogged into the building, finding Mei laughing on the ground as a suit of armor smoked.

"Did you try to add electric currents to it again?"

Mei grinned, "One day I'll have that working." She got up and dusted her pants, "I've been waiting for you! The thing you asked for is ready."

Izuku smiled as his eyes sparkled with excitement, "Really?"

She nodded and pointed at a table.

"It was a very interesting request, but pretty good practice for when I make a full suit," she said with her hands on her hips, a sign of pride.

They moved to the table where two long gloves with the tops cut off sat.

"Incorporating the exoskeleton of my prototype suits was harder than I thought, but this baby came out perfect! They can even absorb the force of a car crash," she explained before rubbing her chin in thought, "What do you want these for anyway?"

"I'm too slow," Izuku explained as he marveled at the long gloves. "Some criminals have Quirks that increase their speed and they always get away, so I thought of a new way of using the gauntlets, but since I don't have a Quirk, the force would probably rip my arms off."

Mei's eyes widened as a bright smile spread across her face, "You want to use the gauntlets to swing faster!"

He nodded, "That way I can leave the scenes faster too."

"This has a lot of potential! Yes, yes, I approve," she gave him a thumbs up.

* * *

Wearing a green hoodie, a black t-shit, black pants, along with the gauntlets and new gloves; Midoriya stood at the edge of a five story building. He swore the ground below was moving as a spell of dizziness befell him when the wind seemed to push against him.

Was he really about to try this?

His firsts tests with trees had been successful and he was very familiar with the gauntlets, but this was something completely different. He didn't have a Quirk, he could actually get badly hurt if something went wrong.

'_I'm sorry Izuku. I'm so sorry!'_

'_You're a Quirkless loser!'_

'_You have to face reality, someone like you cannot become a hero.'_

He took a step back, his doubts resurfacing once again.

Doing what he was about to was something only people with Quirks could do, but he didn't have one. He was way in over his head. He was no-

'_Thank you. Thank you so much!'_

'_That's a hero for you!'_

Without hesitation, Izuku kicked off the ledge and jumped towards the ground below.

The feeling was immediate. The weightlessness, the wind rushing against his body as the lights in the streets turned to streaks of unfocused light. His mind and body screamed _danger _at him, but he managed to aim his right hand at the building across the street and let the gauntlet fly.

Almost in slow motion, he watched as the chain shot through the air and gripped the side of the building.

Then, as the street grew closer and closer, his body was jerked upwards, as he was swung forward at a great speed.

He released the gauntlet and was left hovering in the air for a brief moment before he used the one on his left and aimed at another building.

From the momentum, his speed was easily doubled as he swung through the air at a great speed.

As he approached a tall building right in front of him, he easily shot at another direction, and was instantly pulled the other way seamlessly.

"WOOOOOOOO!" Izuku screamed in pure joy as he sped through the city at a speed he never thought possible.

The smile never leaving his face, he pulled himself up to a ten story building and landed on the roof without problem.

"This is amazing," he muttered to himself, marveling at the devices on his arms.

* * *

**One Month Later**

Eggs, rice, and milk.

Eggs, rice, and milk.

Izuku went over and over in his head over the things his mom had asked him to get from a store, sicne he forgot about it last time. He _did _get distracted often, but it was not an acceptable excuse.

"You said there would be no heroes!" A man wearing a ski mask exclaims to another two men wearing ski masks.

This time he hadn't planned on finding crime tonight, but here it was, on his way to a convenience store he had run into three robbers that had broken into a jewelry store.

Izuku crossed his arms with a frown, he had changed as quickly as he could after spotting them running off. His clothes had seen some revisions over the past few weeks.

Now he wore a dark green hoodie over, a bandanna still, but with goggles to help him see better at night, a light metal plate on his chest, loose black pants, and long black boots that were actually like his long gloves, in that they were able to absorb a lot of force.

"Look at him, he's not a hero," another masked man said with a growl. "He's the vigilante from the news. The one that keeps on bothering everyone."

"Damn you," the last burglar snarled.

Izuku pointed at himself and cocked his head to the side, "Wait a minute, you guys don't get to act offended here. You're stealing."

"Shut up!"

One of the three burglars ran at him, but the boy ducked under a wide swing, and used the man's momentum to easily flip him over his head.

The experience he had gotten in the last few months had really helped develop his fighting style. Fighting mostly low level criminals had really helped him grow and get over his initial apprehension of them. He had even begun to respond to their angry outbursts.

One of the other men took out a knife, and held it up in front of him, his intentions clear.

At first he had been afraid of knives, but after getting used to them, and seeing them more and more often, he had prepared.

Reaching for his back, he took the metal baton stuck to the back by a magnet from the metal plate. The baton was made of a durable but light material, though at first Mei had wanted to have it double as a helicopter but he managed to talk her down to just making it easy to use.

With the baton's superior reach, Izuku easily disarmed the man, and struck him on the head, knocking him out. Seeing this, the last two burglars raised their hands in a who of surrender.

"See, we didn't have to fight at all," Izuku smiled.

Using a thin but strong string, Mei had made for another invention, Izuku tied the burglars together, gathered the stuff they stole in backpacks, and walked back to the jewelry store.

The police was already there and, since he was bad at dealing with them since what he was doing wasn't legal, he pulled himself up to the roof of the store, and stood at the edge, earning the attention of a couple of officers.

"Bad guys are tied up over there," he said, pointing at the alleyway he came from, before throwing them the backpacks. "Here's what they stole."

"Wait right there!"

Izuku ignored the command, and instead swung away further into the city, before he swung to the roof of a building and snapped his fingers.

"That's right, I can't forget the milk and eggs!"

* * *

Izuku sat cross legged on the floor of the warehouse where Mei tested out her inventions, while she welded a part into a pair of boots she was making.

"So what did you call me here for?" Izuku wondered out loud. Not disliking her company, but finding it odd to have her call him and not shove an invention into his face as soon as he stepped into the warehouse.

She stopped her welding, and took of her mask to show a grimace on her face.

"We're not going to be able to meet as much anymore."

Izuku cocked his head to the side, "Well, I kind of expected it, you're aiming for U.A. right?"

She nodded, "I'm grateful for your help with my babies, but once I start at U.A. they'll be able to track any new invention I make back to you..."

Now he understood why she had called him. Mei was always direct and to the point, so for her to be so cautious in telling him that she could not be linked to a vigilante, it hurt but it made him glad at the same time. Had this happened months ago, she would have told him to leave without skipping a beat.

"Don't worry about it, I get it," he nodded with a gentle smile, "You don't have to risk your future for my sake. Besides, I'm not going to be a vigilante forever."

She smiled back, before going back to welding, "Well, you can keep on testing out my babies until I'm enrolled in U.A."

* * *

What followed the meeting with Mei, was a pretty normal day for crime fighting.

Nothing too bad, just a few burglars here and there, and helping an old lady find her way to her son's house.

Now he sat at the edge of a nine story building while munching on a bean bun he had bought. Tonight was pretty quiet so he might as well go home early for once. His mom worried about him staying out late sometimes, but he managed to assure her that he was just hanging out with new friends he met.

"Well," he muttered to himself once he finished his snack. "Might as well go home."

He jumped off the building and began to swing his way home peacefully, quite accustomed to swinging now.

A strange noise caught his attention though, like the sound of a loud engine going off-

Something hit Izuku's side so hard that it knocked the wind out of him. He looked to his side in bewilderment and his blood ran cold when he noticed an armored hero flipping through the air, hitting the side of a building, and shooting at him as the roar of an engine went off.

Izuku's eyes widened but he managed to swing to his right just enough to avoid another tackle. He let himself be pulled towards the wall of a building and studied the situation carefully.

The armor. The sound of an engine. It was obviously Ingenium, the turbo hero.

Ingenium landed on a telephone pole with the engines on his elbows still roaring.

"You must the vigilante everyone is talking about. I didn't expect to run into you today."

Izuku frowned, "I didn't expect to run into a hero either… Are you going to arrest me?"

Ingenium crossed his arms, "I-"

An explosion suddenly rocked the area, making both turn towards the source.

A large muscular man wearing a white mask, and a black spandex sleeveless suit, emerged from a bank, holding a large bag filled to the brim with cash, as injured civilians cowered on the floor.

Ingenium looked at the villain before glancing back at the vigilante, only to see him shoot towards the scene at a fast speed.

Izuku narrowed his eyes on the man, as he flipped in the air, and delivered a kick powered by the momentum of his speed. The muscular man let out a surprised yelp, before being thrown against a wall, though not falling over.

"Those of you who can walk, take those who can't out of here, I'll hold him off," Izuku said without turning around, keeping his eyes on the masked man who was already walking towards him.

"Didn't notice you earlier pipsqueak," the villain said in a gruff voice.

The villain lowered into a hunch before charging in at him at an incredible speed. Were it not for the reflexes he had developed after painfully crashing against trees and buildings during his training, he would not have been able to pull himself upwards just in time to avoid a head on collision.

As the villain came to a stop, Ingenium appeared in front of him and delivered a punch to his face, causing the muscular man to take a couple of steps back.

Ingenium landed next to Izuku, looking at him briefly, before turning towards the villain in a ready stance. Izuku grinned and took on a defensive stance as well.

"So it's a couple of pipsqueaks, huh? Doesn't matter, I'm going to pave the pavement with your brains!"

"Hey, we just want you arrested, not at all equivalent with that."

"Shut up!" The villain roared before he punched at the ground, causing it to shake and split.

Izuku and Ingenium jumped away, with the vigilante clinging to the side of the wall with a grin that betrayed the fear inside. This wasn't your everyday burglar, this was an actual villain, a villain with a Quirk no less; one that could probably turn his bones into dust.

Still, at least he had a Hero on his side. Though the rational part of his brain told him that neither he nor Ingenium had anything strong enough to defeat the villain. They had to put their heads together and figure something out, or at least stall until a more suited hero showed up.

"Hey Ingenium, any ideas?"

The hero shook his head, "Just keep him occupied so he doesn't attack civilians."

He had been thinking the same, but there had to be a way to take him out, right?

'_Come on think. He has a strength Quirk, and is nearly unaffected by our attacks…' _

Izuku was broken out of his thoughts when the villain ripped a car door off its hinges and threw it at him. The boy dodged by dropping down to the street, but the man appeared to be expecting this as he charged in at him again.

With not enough time to swing away, Izuku planted his feet firmly on the ground, and met the man's charge with his hands, nearly tearing off the gloves Mei had made to withstand crazy force. The villain let out a surprised grunt, before a foot collided with his face, and knocked him back a couple of steps.

Izuku pulled himself against the side of a building again with a relieved sigh. "Thanks for that," he said to the hero.

Ingenium nodded and took a ready stance once more, easily dodging in and out of the giant man's swings. Izuku helplessly watched, not knowing what to do except stay out of the way. He murmured under his breath quickly, organizing his thoughts and ideas, until something came to him.

"Ingenium! Try to keep him still!"

The hero glanced back at him in confusion, as the vigilante began to scale one of the tall buildings on the street.

Ingenium knew better than to trust a random vigilante, but this was a special case. He had studied this particular one. Stopped dozens of small scale crimes, and constantly helped people even with the most mundane tasks.

The hero ran circles around the villain, keeping him as still as possible by attacking when there were openings, and not giving up any ground by moving around the villain too fast.

Growing angry over being held back for so long, the villain roared and once again punched at the ground, causing Ingenium to jump away to avoid getting caught up in the attack as debris exploded everywhere.

Ingenium panted, about to move once again, when he noticed the vigilante falling towards the villain at an incredible speed.

"Take this!" Izuku screamed as he thrust his baton downwards, hitting the villain square in the head.

The impact was so strong that the baton bent in half, and the top of his hoodie and bandanna were blown off, revealing his bushy hair.

An audible scream escaped the villain's mouth from the impact, actually affected by the attack.

'_Thank you Mei!' _The boy smirked as he switched on a new function to his gauntlets, creating a powerful torrent of electricity that struck the villain until he finally fell over unconscious.

Izuku smiled weakly as he landed on the ground, his baton bent almost to the point of breaking. "We did it," he smiled, turning to Ingenium, who shared his smile.

"Looks like my hunch was right after all," Ingenium said. "I knew someone who helped people carry their groceries couldn't be too bad."

"Hey, don't underestimate how much weight grocery bags can carry."

Ingenium chuckled as sirens began to approach. Izuku looked at him with an unreadable expression, and the hero turned away, "Oh no, looks like I only brought one pair of handcuffs. Darn, looks like you're free to go."

The surprise must have shown on his face, because Ingenium began to laugh.

"Don't worry about it kid. You helped me out today. It's normal I return the favor. Now go, before we're seen."

Izuku bowed before swinging away before the police showed up.

* * *

**One Week Later**

Izuku sat at the edge of a building, drumming his fingers absentmindedly. Today was the U.A. entrance exam and he was wondering how Mei was doing. It would be great if she made it in.

For his part, he decided not to try for a hero course just yet. Fighting a villain with a Quirk had made it very obvious that it was way too soon for him to think he could stand up against them. The only reason he had won was because a hero had been there, and all because of the support items Mei had made.

Anyone else could have done the same thing he had.

No, for now, he would continue training and helping out those he could.

Mei had very graciously left behind the tools she'd used in the warehouse, leaving a note behind explaining that they were outdated and she would be getting better ones at U.A.

While he was no Mei, he had learned a bit from her, though just enough to maintain the stuff that he had.

The sound of an alarm going off broke him out of his thoughts. He jumped off the ledge, it looked like there was still stuff to do.

* * *

All Might tried not to show the recognition and utter amazement at what he was seeing.

During a discussion on students using their Quirks in public, the subject of a vigilante came up, along with a video from a security camera, showing Ingenium fighting a villain with the help of a vigilante.

All Might had been watching curiously, thinking that the vigilante's Quirk of stretching his hands out was strange, until the vigilante's bushy dark green hair was revealed.

He recognized it instantly. Of course he remembered the boy from back then, he had reminded him so much of himself when he was younger that it had left an impact on him. That Quirkless scrawny boy had actually fought alongside a hero and taken down a villain.

The video ended and the teachers were dismissed.

All Might immediately left the school's grounds.

He had found a successor.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

A figure, clad in light green spandex, black gloves that reached his elbows, black markings from his knees down to his red boots, dived through the blue sky. His spandex mask with big yellow spots for eyes, easily tracked a car moving through the streets at a fast speed.

One month after the villain fight, he decided to change what he wore when out fighting crime. The bandanna had to come off since it well, came off, replaced by stuff that wouldn't fly out of his face, a light green spandex that wasn't constricting and he could breath through without problem.

Izuku grinned under his mask as he swung towards the car, flipped in the air, and landed on its roof, denting it from the force. He could hear startled screams coming from the inside as he leaned his head to look through the driver's window.

"Hey there," he said with a wave.

"Lose him!" The passenger screamed as the driver began to swerve from side to side.

'_Not good. I've got to stop them before the cause a crash.'_

Izuku clung to the roof and ripped the hood off the car with his retractable claw. With it gone, he easily spotted the battery, shot it with a claw and overcharged it with a surge of electricity. Next he broke through the passenger's window with the claw, before punching the driver in the face, knocking out the startled man.

"See, this would have gone much easier, if you just stopped earlier," he scolded while closing his fist and shooting the breaks with the claw, halting the dead car to a stop.

"Dammit, dammit!" The passenger cursed as he got out of the car and took out a knife.

"You can either put it down," Izuku began while taking the baton from its resting place on his back, "Or find out if your knife has more reach than my baton here."

The criminal cursed under his breath and dropped the weapon.

"Good."

Soon enough, leaving the two man tied up against the car, Izuku swung away from the scene before the police or any heroes arrived.

He had gotten a bit more daring in the past month, even going out in the middle of the day like he was doing now. It was a nice way to let some steam off after being stuck in school all week. Speaking of which, he need to buy some stuff from the mall for a project they were working on. He couldn't really put it off sicne he didn't want to worry his mom.

With that in mind, Izuku swung over to the mall, landing on the roof of a building overlooking it, he couldn't exactly shop while wearing his vigilante outfit. As he prepared to change, the sound of an alarm went off in the mall.

Izuku bit his lip. The mall was always full of people, there could be heroes inside; but at the same time, what if there weren't any? Hundreds of people could get hurt or worse just because he was afraid of what might happen.

The boy groaned, knowing that he really had no choice but to hope for the best, and swung into the mall, breaking through a window, and landing in the middle of the food court to dozens of startled eyes.

"What happened?" He asked a man cowering under a table.

"A-A bunch of armed men showed up."

No sooner than he said that, Izuku jumped to the side just as a bullet hit the place where he had just been standing.

A man wearing an animal mask took aim at him with a handgun, but the boy pulled himself into the air, twirled, and used the free claw to grasp one of the shooter's legs and deliver a surge of electricity.

The man fell on the floor unconscious, causing some of the people there to clap, and others to start taping him with their phones.

Izuku pulled himself to a pillar so that he could watch the area better.

The food court was full of people, and there were no people walking on the courtyards, probably forced into the various shops; but he could see no sign of the criminals. He decided to jump down to the first floor to see into the stores, and quickly spotted the men in a big name jewelry store, jamming everything they could into bags.

He prepared to leap into action, but was interrupted when an explosion struck some of the armed men.

"Die!"

Izuku froze when he heard the familiar voice, and watched as a couple of teens his age ran at the rest of the men and made quick work of them. One even got shot but the bullets seemed to bounce off his skin.

Well, that took care of the criminals-

Everything seemed to slow down when his old schoolmate, Katsuki Bakugo, or Kacchan turned in his direction and their eyes met. A slow smirk formed on Katsuki's face.

Izuku knew what was next, he had seen it countless times, so it was easy for him to move out of the way as his old friend/bully shot through the mall at an incredible speed.

'_Okay, he's way faster now.' _

"Hey Bakugou," a boy with red hair spoke in a scared tone, "We can't use our Quirks in public, let's not make a scene."

"Shut up!" Bakugou said, "This guy's the vigilante all over the news. We can't let him get away."

"Fine, but we have to make it quick," the red haired teen said.

Izuku looked for a way to out, but the only exit he had seen was the one he came in from. There were others, but the exits behind him were inside large stores that Bakugou could easily catch him in, and the rest were being blocked by the two.

With no other way out, Izuku took to air, immediately being fired upon by blasts of energy, but he managed to maneuver through them, grab a fire extinguisher from its case with a claw, and throw it towards the U.A. students.

Predictably, Bakugou blasted it, causing a huge cloud of smoke that covered their view.

Knowing the vigilante was trying to leave, Bakugou shot upwards to get out of the smoke, but was blindsided as a baton collided with his head and knocked him back down.

When the smoke cleared, the vigilante was gone, leaving a fuming Bakugou and red haired teen behind.

* * *

Back at the warehouse, Izuku plopped down on a couch with a long sigh.

He hadn't expected to run into Bakugou, much less end up fighting him. It was thanks to his notes that he managed to get away, but they were going to be useless in a couple more months. The rate in which his old friend had improves was way faster than he thought possible, as expected of U.A.

The boy sighed and looked at a map he had placed on a nearby desk, filled with red circles and notes.

With the mall attempted robbery, this marked the fourth eerily similar crime he had run into in the last two weeks. Armed criminals wearing animal masks breaking into jewelry stores and taking all they could. Thanks to word of mouth, he had overheard that there had been more robberies like it across the city, each one of different jewelry store chains.

It didn't look like a bitter attack by a competitor, but the fact that they were only going after jewelry left him intrigued. Robbing a bank would probably get them more money, and it would be safer than hitting several different jewelry stores per week.

Just what were they planning?

* * *

It was dark as Izuku looked down from a tall building, easily spotting a group of masked men entering a car and speeding off.

Since just catching them wasn't working, this time Izuku had decided to follow them back to wherever they were coming from. Thanks to his equipment, it was easy to move from building to building to avoid being spotted; though that became more difficult as they were approaching the outskirts of the city.

Still, he remained in the shadows, using everything from houses, light posts, and trees, to keep up with the car.

Finally, it stopped at a warehouse overlooking what looked like a junkyard next to the sea. Izuku stood against the wall of a building as he watched the men get out of the car and into the warehouse.

With them gone, he swung over to the warehouse's roof, and peaked in through a small window.

"Look what we got!" One of the robbers said with a laugh as he placed a bag full of jewelry on a desk.

A man with short black hair, wearing a tailored suit, sat on a leather chair with a smirk on his face.

"Looks like the pest was preoccupied this time," another robber said.

The man in the suit dug through the bag, tossing aside diamonds and other valuable stone as if they were trash, before emptying jadeite jewelry into a briefcase.

"You can keep everything else," he spoke in a dignified voice, before stepping out of the warehouse and headed for a car parked outside.

Suddenly, a claw took hold of the briefcase and retracted into the waiting hand of Izuku, standing on the roof.

"Sweet briefcase," he said, holding it up, "Italian leather?"

The man chuckled, "You must be the vigilante that's been getting in the way."

"Then _you _must be the guy behind the robberies."

"Why not work for me? You certainly have potential, I can pay you well."

"Going to have to say no," he answered. "Why keep only a certain type of stone anyway? Does it power up your Quirk or something?"

"Pretty astute," the man smirked. "My Quirk allows me to create blasts of energy by absorbing certain stones. Jadeite turned out to be the one with the strongest reaction."

He held up his right hand to show off a jadeite ring, "Like so."

Izuku jumped to the side as a powerful beam of energy shot straight at him, melting part of the roof as the attack disintegrated into the air.

"Of course, I can use other stones as well."

The boy had to swing away as another beam of energy, though not as strong as the first, was fired at him and exploded against the warehouse.

'_I can't win this,' _Izuku realized as he used the claws to swing away as another beam of energy shot at him.

With no way to get close, Izuku used the claw to grab a refrigerator from the junkyard and fling it at the man, before swinging away.

"After him!" The man instructed the robbers that had come outside after hearing the commotion.

'_Okay, I have to find a hero,' _Izuku thought while moving through the air as fast as he could, looking back to see two cars following after him, and the man from earlier emerge from a sunroof.

As beam of energy began to be fired from the car, Izuku realized that they were heading towards a residential area. He couldn't lead them there and risk people getting hurt, so he twisted in the air to face the cars and head straight for them.

Tires screeched as the cars turned to chase after him again.

'_Come on, think. There has to be something I can do!' _Izuku gritted his teeth as he barely dodged a beam of energy, but his eyes widened when he was suddenly free falling, '_They got the _claw!'

Instead of aiming at a building, he instead aimed at a tree just before he hit the ground, causing him to shoot through the air at a much faster speed than before.

With just one claw left, he couldn't maneuver as well as he could, so he spotted an empty shopping center, and broke in through the glass doors, causing an alarm to go off.

The cars stopped in front of the store, with one of the robbers saying, "We should leave before any heroes show up."

"No, I'm not missing the chance to leave without the stone, I've waited long enough for them,," the man in the suit said with a frown as he got out of the car.

Inside the store, Izuku sat on a clothing section, using the hung clothes to hide himself in the dark. He watched as the men entered and turned on flashlights on their weapons, while the leader remained blocking the entrance.

It wasn't that big of a store, so it was only a matter of time until he was found.

He remained still, heart beating rapidly, as one of the men got closer and, left with no choice, he electrocuted the man before trying to run off, but being struck on the back by a beam of energy and being sent crashing through an aisle, the briefcase sailing through the air in another direction.

"You should consider yourself lucky that I didn't use a better quality stone for that, but," the man smirked as the robber still conscious gave him the briefcase that Izuku had dropped. He opened it and was pleased to see the familiar green glint, "You're luck just ran out."

Izuku emerged from the rubble and shot straight at the man with his right first cocked back.

"An all or nothing attack, huh?" The man smirked as he reached into the briefcase, pulled out a necklace and aimed a hand at the boy. "Huh?"

A fist crashed against his face, causing him to cry out in pain as he was pushed back against a wall, dropping the briefcase.

"These cheap knockoffs look just like the real thing, don't they?" Izuku muttered before he placed his left hand on the man's head, and released a surge of electricity that knocked him out. "Now," he turned to the last remained robber and swung out of the way to dodge a barrage of bullets before landing on the floor, balling the claw into a fist, and shooting it at the man, knocking him out upon impact.

Izuku panted as he limped back to get the briefcase. He emptied it on the store's counter, before he went back to where he had been hiding, to dig out the jewelry from inside a coat.

With that done, he tied all the men together; making extra sure that the man in the suit didn't have any more jewelry, and dragged them out of the store, leaving them there for the police that were already pretty close, judging by the sounds of their sirens.

Izuku climbed onto the roof, waiting for the police to arrive.

"Those two robbed a jewelry store," he spoke up as soon as the officers stepped out of their cars. "The guy in the suit is the one behind all the robberies! He has a Quirk that lets him shoot beams of energy by using jewels as fuel."

Unlike before, where he would have guns pointed at him, Izuku was surprised to see the officers nod and apprehend the criminals.

He bowed his head at them slightly before swinging away from the area.

* * *

With only one claw to swing with, and his back aching horribly, Izuku was back at his home by four in the morning. He didn't even try to use the front door, instead climbing in through his window, and collapsing on his bed still wearing his costume.

He had locked his door before leaving, so he simply passed out on his bed.

* * *

Izuku woke up to insistent knocking on his bedroom door. He rubbed his stinging eyes to look at the clock at his bedside to see that it was seven in the morning.

"Izuku, wake up!" Came the voice of his mother from behind the door.

The boy tried to sit up but instantly regretted it as she pain coming from his back caused an involuntary yelp to escape his lips. That certainly woke him up, so he gritted his teeth, and climbed out of bed to open the door, before he realized that he was still wearing his costume.

"I'm coming mom," he called out as he tried to take off his suit, only to cry out when he bent over.

"Are you okay honey?"

"Y-yeah, just stepped on something," he said through a wince.

Taking off his spandex suit would be impossible at this rate, so he instead took off his gloves, and put on sweatpants, and a long-sleeve All Might shirt he had.

Giving himself one look in the mirror to make sure his costume wasn't showing, he stuffed his boots, mask, and gloves into the closet, and got out of his room, finding his mom waiting for him with an unreadable expression.

"We have a visitor. He's waiting outside."

A feeling of dread hit him. Had he been found out? Was the police or a hero waiting outside to arrest him? No, even though he was sure, he had made sure that no one had seen him come into his room.

When Izuku opened the door, his eyes went wider than they had ever been as he let out a surprised gasp.

"You were hard to find young man."

Inko joined them at the door, finding her son's starstruck expression adorable.

"Um… hi! Uh, hi. What are you… How may I help you?" Izuku let out in an almost robotic tone from how awestruck he was.

"All Might said he needed to speak to you," Inko said nervously.

All Might nodded. "I wanted to ask young Midoriya about an incident. Don't worry, everything is fine, it's just that he may have seen a villain I was chasing."

"Oh," she turned to her son with a frown, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Don't worry, it was no dangerous incident," All Might intervened when he realized that he was about to get young Midoriya in trouble. "He was simply in the area and I'm trying to see if anybody could have seen him hiding, he may have not even realized it was a villain."

"Okay then, Izuku go talk with him, I'll be making breakfast."

Izuku nodded and stepped out of the apartment, closing the door behind him. All Might motioned for him to follow, and he did just that, as his heart seemed about to beat out of his chest. Was he about to be arrested? Had the heroes found out?

He was led across the street, to a small park devoid of any people.

"What… did you come here for, really?" Izuku asked.

All Might looked at him carefully, "I came here..."

To confront him…

To stop him…

To arrest him…

"To apologize," he finished with a bow.

Izuku panicked, "Wha! No, it's okay. Don't bow!"

All Might deflated and coughed up blood.

"Hey! You okay?!"

"Yes, sorry, I had a busy day yesterday and couldn't keep that form for too long," he explained and then cleared his throat. "In any case, I came here to apologize to you. Apologize for what I said months ago."

"Face reality, you cannot become a hero..." Izuku repeated his words from back then quietly.

All Might almost flinched at that, sad that the boy could recall them so easily.

"You said that, to protect me didn't you? At first I was angry at you, I wanted to prove you wrong... But now I can see that you just wanted to keep me from doing something stupid."

"And yet," All Might said with a small smile, "You went and did something stupid, Mr. Vigilante."

Izuku flinched at that.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to arrest you or anything like that," he said with a wave of his hands to put him at ease. "I've seen and read of the things you've done. Despite what I said to you, what everyone said to you, you went out and made a difference. You saved lives, and even defeated two villains."

"Were you aware that that villain from yesterday had fought a fair number of heroes and got away each time?"

"Eh?"

All Might smiled, "You proved me wrong. You, a Quirkless boy saved lives, stopped crimes, and defeated villains."

Izuku's bottom lip began to quiver and he looked down when he felt tears beginning to form.

"Izuku Midoriya, you **can **become a hero."

The boy nodded, tears now rolling down his cheeks as a sob threatened to surface. To hear these words coming from the person he had idolized ever since he was a kid... it was unbelievable. Only months ago he had said the opposite, but now he was saying the words he had always wanted to hear.

All Might transformed back into his muscular self, causing Izuku to wipe his tears and look up at him. "My Quirk's name is One for All. It is a Quirk that has been passed down for generations," he explained. "My Master chose me, as I have chosen **you**."

Izuku looked up at him in complete surprise, "Me? But, I'm no good. There's got to be people better suited for it. The only reason I could help people was with the help of others… I."

"You're wrong. I know that there's no one better suited for it than you. Any other person in your position would have given up long ago, but you proved everyone wrong," All Might smiled and gripped the boy's shoulders, "Believe in yourself, as I believe in you. All for One will be best in your hands."

"O-Okay. What do I have to do?"

Maybe perform some kind of test? Or go to an ancient place and perform a ritual? Or maybe meditate?

All Might grinned, pulled a hair off his scalp, and placed it in front of the boy's face, "Eat this."

"Eh?"

* * *

For the first time in a long time, Izuku spent the day at home. He didn't tell his mom about One for All, or the injury he got yesterday, he hadn't even told All Might about that, out of nervousness. But it had gotten better as the day progressed.

By night, he was walking normally without a limp in his step.

He was glad to spend some time with his mom, in the time of his crime fighting he hadn't seen much of her and he knew she worried, but didn't voice it out of consideration.

As he went into his room to sleep after taking a long bath, he placed his costume and equipment into a suitcase with a lock in his closet. Every other day he would wear it underneath his clothes, or keep it in a backpack for easy access, but things were different since he knew a vigilante could not be seen running around with All Might.

With that done, he went to bed, still tired from yesterday.

* * *

Izuku woke up early the next day. The sun wasn't even out yet, but All Might had requested that they meet at five in the morning at the park outside of his house. His back had thankfully stopped hurting at all, which made it easy for him to change and get ready. Before leaving, he left a note for his mom, and was out the door as quietly as possible.

As a cool breeze greeted him outside, making him shiver a bit in his shirt and shorts, he wondered if there was anything different. Did he have a Quirk now? In all the excitement, he had forgotten to ask the hero when exactly the Quirk would manifest itself.

"Ah, young Midoriya," All Might greeted with a wave of his hand. He was in his deflated appearance, "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," he said with a nod and looked down at his hands, "Um, I forgot to ask, but how long does it take for One for All to be passed down?"

"Don't worry about that, for now I want you to come with me."

He cocked his head to the side but followed him to a car.

Somehow, the image of All Might, even in his deflated state, driving a car seemed a bit odd. He had always thought that he just ran everywhere.

The drive wasn't that long, and when it ended, he was surprised to see that they were in U.A.

"What are we doing here?"

"We're going to a training room. It's much safer than being out in public," he explained casually as they got out of the car.

Izuku couldn't help but feel excited and incredulous when he stepped past the gate and into the school grounds. He had dreamed of this moment as a kid, and had given up on it. But now here he was, with All Might no less.

The boy did his best to avoid naming the various pictures of heroes on the entrance hall, though the older man noticed his excitement and couldn't help but smile.

Soon they entered a large spacious room with a very tall ceiling, at least four stories high.

"This is a training room built specially for those with more offensive Quirks," All Might explained. "Now, before we begin, I have to warn you about something."

All Might transformed into his muscular form, "Controlling this much power is very difficult. Much more so if your body is not ready for it. You appear ready, but not for the full power yet. So remember to hold back your punches."

"I think I get it..." Izuku muttered while looking at his right fist. "But, how do I use it?" As he asked this, he threw a couple of punches at the air for emphasis, showing no real effect.

"Just look within, squeeze your buttocks, and yell SMASH!"

'_Here goes nothing, I guess...' _Izuku put on a concentrated look on his face, cocked his fist back, and threw a weak jab, "SMASH!"

A vicious shock wave tore through the room, causing Izuku to take a couple of steps back in surprise.

"There it is!" All Might chuckled as he clapped the boy's back. "Is your arm okay?"

He nodded, "Just a little tingly, but it's fine."

"Remember the feeling of that punch, try not to use the full power unless you absolutely need to. Using it would likely break your arm."

He gulped and nodded.

All Might smiled and turned to walk out of the room, "Okay, now let's go get you signed up."

"Signed up for what?"

"U.A."

* * *

All Might sat on a wooden chair, facing a green couch were Nezu, the principal of U.A. sat.

"I'm sorry if this is sudden, but I don't want him to miss a year," All Might said.

The principal sighed, "I don't mind transferring him into a class. What I'm worried about is his past as a vigilante. I trust your judgment Toshinori, but if he's to enroll here, then he cannot continue his acting as a vigilante. He'll have to wait until he gets a provisional license like every other student."

"You have my word," All Might assured with a firm nod.

"Okay then. We'll have to get his information, and meet with his parents. Since this is a personal request, enrollment won't take as long. He'll be ready for classes next week if all goes well."

"Thank you," All Might said with a bow of his head.

* * *

Izuku walked through the U.A. hallways with a grin. He could hardly believe that he would actually attend school here, it was a dream come true. Though he did have a problem with having to stop helping people, All Might told him that he would likely have a chance to get a license very soon.

Still, how was he going to explain all of this…

"Is something on your mind young Midoriya?" All Might asked, when seeing his troubled expression.

"I'm just wondering how I'm going to explain all of this to my mom, like not only having a Quirk now, but going to U.A."

All Might laughed, "Don't worry about it, I'll be there to help you tell her."

"Really?"

"Of course, I'm sure she'll take my word for it when you tell her you have a Quirk."

Izuku smiled, "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me, you're my successor, this is the least I can do for you."

By the time they reached the entrance, there were already students in the shoe lockers, and in the courtyard. Izuku looked at them curiously, wondering if any of them would be his classmates.

"Deku?"

Izuku snapped his head to the side to see Bakugou walking into the school with the red haired teen from the mall.

"What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Um… I..."

"He's with me," All Might said with a smile, placing a hand on Izuku's shoulder.

Bakugo looked between the two before turning and walking away.

"Is he a friend of yours?"

"Long story..."

* * *

With the transfer notice being sent to his old school, which meant he didn't have to go anymore, Izuku was able to meet All Might at a polluted beach early in the morning, before the sun even rose.

"As you know, using One-for-All can be very damaging to your body, which is why we're going to use this beach to get you accustomed to it," All Might declared with a smile on his face. "Your first task is to clean it up."

Izuku looked at the mountains of discarded appliances with a perplexed expression, "The whole beach?"

All Might nodded. "Don't worry, if you use One-for-All properly, it should take you a few days."

While he thought it was a bit odd to train like that, Izuku complied. All Might knew what he was doing, and he trusted him completely.

He looked towards the pile of junk and got to work.

* * *

Day two of his training was even more grueling than the first.

While he had gotten a lot done the first day, it barely made a dent in the mountains of junk.

'_At least I didn't break anything,' _Izuku thought to himself as small streaks of green light sparked around his arms. _'Whoa, it came out much easier this time.' _

* * *

All Might grinned as he stood to the side as a green blur shot across the beach, clearing all the trash in his path.

It was day three of training, and it looked like young Midoriya had gotten a lot more used to One-for-All. Of course, he was nowhere near full power, but the progress he was making was outstanding. It appeared that his experience as a vigilante had made him good at adapting. Like how, when realizing how slow he was moving while holding up large appliances, using the Quirk on his feet to move much faster.

It was something he was glad to see, because it meant that he wasn't looking at One-for-All as inflexible, but as something to be used in all kinds of different ways.

All Might left the boy on his own, to go get some food for both of them, and by the time he came back (having stopped a villain on the way), the beach was clear.

"You did it!" He praised as he approached the boy laying on the sand with his arms and legs outstretched.

Izuku chuckled as he sat up and accepted the bag of food All Might had brought for him.

"There's still three more days left until you have to go to U.A." He said before standing tall and transforming into his hero form. "We have time for some hand-to-hand training."

"Yeah," Izuku said between bites. "When do we start?"

"Tomorrow. I want you well rested to get a good look at what you can do."

The boy smiled, eager to keep growing to become the hero he had always wanted to be

* * *

The last week had been overwhelming because of how much had happened and needed to be done. Finding out he was going to U.A., running into Bakugou, almost being hugged to death by his mom crying tears of joy for him fulfilling his childhood dream, all the training with All Might; it was like a month worth of stuff, packed into a single week.

Yet, he didn't feel as unprepared for any of it as he did now standing outside his new class and listening in on the teacher talking.

"Anyway, today we have a new student joining our class."

He could hear the shocked murmurs coming from inside, which made him bite his lip in nervousness.

It was strange. He had fought criminals and even villains, but this was much more intimidating for some reason.

"Let's see… Izuku Midoriya, you can come in now."

As he slid the door open and walked inside, he was greeted to curious eyes and the sound of a chair scrapping.

"What the hell?!" Bakugou looked at him incredulously.

A look from the teacher, Eraserhead, made him sick back down.

Wait, what?! Eraserhead was his homeroom teacher! He had seen and heard everything about him from the time he-

Wait, no, this wasn't the time fanboy.

Izuku cleared his throat, "Um, my name is Izuku Midoriya. Nice to meet you."

"You can take any open seat," Eraserhead instructed.

He could feel everyone's stares as he walked to the only open seat in the class, right behind Bakugou, who's glare never stopped following him. A nervous chuckle escaped his lips as he sat on his desk.

"Today, we're going to have another Battle Trial," Eraserhead said in his usual monotone voice. "With the Sports Festival coming next month, the school wants you to have a good grasp of your Quirks. We're going to have them outside this time in an open field. Let's go."

As the teacher began to walk out, Izuku stood up with the rest of the class and received a tap on the shoulder from the student sitting to his right.

"Yo, I'm Hanta Sero. "

"Nice to meet you," Izuku replied with a friendly smile.

"I didn't know they let people transfer in," Sero said with a grin, "You must be something else."

"Eh? Ah, not really," he answered with a nervous laugh.

A small boy sitting on the seat behind him, walked up to the two and gave a thumbs up, "I'm Minoru Mineta, and I like big boobs."

Izuku really didn't know what to think of this one, "Um, yeah, good to meet you."

* * *

In the boy's locker room, Izuku changed into the school's gym uniform, finding the material non-restrictive and light.

"Is this your first time doing a battle trial," Sero asked him with a friendly gin.

Izuku nodded.

"It's all luck of the draw," Sero complained, "Sensei said we're going to be using an open field so my Quirk is already at a disadvantage. I hope I get to fight someone I have an advantage against"

"I don't think he has to worry about it," a new voice joined in, the red haired guy who had been with Bakugou in the mall.

"Why is that?" A guy with blond hair said, overhearing the conversation.

"Well, I saw All Might personally walking him through the school last week. He must be crazy strong!"

Izuku's eyes widened and he waved his hands in the air frantically, "N-no way! He was just helping me cause I got lost!"

"Really?" The spiky haired redhead said in a disappointed tone. "Well, it's okay either way. My name is Eijiro Kirishima, good to meet you."

"I'm Denki Kaminari," the blond boy introduced himself as well. "If you've got any cute girl friends, introduce me."

"Nice to meet you," he greeted them back as they all walked out of the locker room and out onto the training grounds.

Like Eraserhead said, it was an open space with large rectangles drawn on the ground.

"Looks like everyone is here," Eraserhead muttered to himself as he set a small box with a hole on a folding table. "You're going to draw a number from this box. The numbers range from one to ten. If you draw the same number as someone else, you will be matched against them in a one-on-one battle."

"Contact is allowed, but excessive force will be punishable. The battle is over is someone gives up or leaves the rectangle," he explained further. "If there are no questions, then you may draw a number."

A line formed on the desk as they began to draw their numbers.

"I got Todoroki!" Mineta exclaimed in horror.

Izuku glanced at the boy in question in curiosity. Was he one of the strongest of the class?

"Let's see what I get," Sero muttered with a grin as he drew a number that no one else had picked yet.

Next came Izuku's turn, he quietly drew his number, _'Number four… I don't think anyone else picked it yet.'_

"What did you get?" Sero asked.

"Number four," Izuku answered while holding up the paper.

He stood there, watching as the others drew their numbers, until it was Bakugou's turn. His old friend picked a number with an angry expression that slowly morphed into a pleased one as a smirk formed on his face.

Bakugou turned to face Izuku and held up the number for him to read.

'_Number four.'_


End file.
